Publications

17 Dec 2010
News

Microsoft's Cracked Windows: How The World's Technology Juggernaut Lost Its Buzz And Became The 'Underdog'

2024
Working Paper

The Value of Open Source Software

By: Manuel Hoffmann, Frank Nagle and Yanuo Zhou

The value of a non-pecuniary (free) product is inherently difficult to assess. A pervasive example is open source software (OSS), a global public good that plays a vital role in the economy and is foundational for most technology we use today. However, it is... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software

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October 2017 (Revised September 2022)
Teaching Note

Fuyao Glass America: Sourcing Decision

By: Willy Shih

This case is about globalization: a Chinese company has decided to locate a production facility close to its customers in the U.S., but a recent contract bid means it will lose money, at least initially, by supplying product from that factory. The purpose of this case... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Labor Market; Labor Supply; Arbitrage; Tradable Sector; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Labor; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Geographic Location; Auto Industry; United States; China

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

ASOS PLC

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details

Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

February 2021
Case

Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)

By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh, Sarah McAra and Christian Godwin

In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance... View Details

September 1988
Case

Frontier Airlines, Inc. (A) (Condensed)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes a regional airline that is on the losing end of a strategic application of information technology. Management is focusing on internal data processing issues while its principal, and larger, competitor is using its computerized reservations system to gain... View Details

Keywords: Adoption; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry

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02 Mar 2018
News

Trump’s Tariffs Will Take Their Toll

Leonard A. Schlesinger

Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School where he serves as Chair of the School’s Practice based faculty and faculty Chair of the MBA Field Global Immersion program. He has served as a member of the HBS faculty from 1978 to... View Details

Program

Strategic Negotiations

efficiencies by developing a systematic approach to managing negotiations Synchronize internal and external negotiations Address the complexities associated with multiple parties and agendas as well as evolving timeframes Negotiate... View Details

2021
Article

Les multinationales comme catégorie politique: les années formatrices (1970-1990)

By: Sabine Pitteloud

While multinationals are emblematic economic actors driving the current globalization process through the organization of production in global value chains, they appear to be important political actors as well. This article provides an historical perspective on such... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporation; Lobbying; Investor Protection; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Governance

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2013
Working Paper

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and Stephan Aier

We test a method for visualizing and measuring enterprise application architectures. The method was designed and previously used to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software applications. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Complexity; Applications and Software; Product Design; Telecommunications Industry

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February 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Poles Apart on PZU (A)

By: Francesca Gino, Vincent Dessain, Karol Misztal and Michael Khayyat

In October 2008, Andrzej Klesyk, CEO of Poland's largest insurer PZU, reflected on possible ways of resolving a decade-long cross-border shareholder conflict at his company. Owned 55% by the Polish State Treasury and 33% by the Dutch insurer Eureko as of October 2008,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Trust; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Shareholder Relations; Poland

September 2009
Case

Intel NBI: Image Components Organization

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

The Image Components Organization (ICO) was an internal venture that was part of Intel's New Business Initiatives. It sought to initially develop and sell a high performance integrated CMOS image sensor module for cellular phones. ICO's opening assumptions were that it... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Production; Failure; Diversification; Semiconductor Industry

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August 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Lan Airlines in 2008: Connecting the World to Latin America

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Jorge Tarzijan and Mitchel Jordan

Lan Airlines operates three distinct models: low-cost for domestic short-haul flights, full-service for international routes; and an international cargo business, the latter of which makes up 33% of Lan's overall revenues (markedly different from many U.S. legacy... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Air Transportation Industry; Latin America

October 1996 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Regarding NAFTA

By: Debora L. Spar

In the aftermath of World War II, the countries of the industrialized world engaged in an unprecedented round of institution-building, through which historical barriers to international trade, especially tariffs, came tumbling down. The GATT has reshaped the... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Trade; North America

June 1990 (Revised February 1991)
Case

In the Shadow of the City

Traces the history of a collaborative effort to create an organization to manage a major international development project in the slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Focuses on a serious set of disagreements which develops several months into the project between the two... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Conflict and Resolution; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Ethiopia

May 2007 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (A)

By: Anita Elberse and Margarita Golod

In July 2004, a then 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon, arguably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Max Eisenbud, Sharapova's agent at International Management Group (IMG), knew the championship would lead to a flood of new opportunities. What... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Gender; Product Marketing; Sports Industry